We Need You
by cpdfan4
Summary: When something unexpected happens, Jay needs his partner in an entirely different way. LINSTEAD. Not sure if I want to make this a full length fic or leave it a one-shot, so please review! xo :)
1. Chapter 1

Jay hung up his phone and slammed it down on his desk much louder than he'd anticipated, earning concerned looks from everyone in the unit. He mumbled an apology as he stood up and made his way over to Voight's office, knocking twice on the door.

Erin had no idea what was wrong with her partner and tried to listen in on his hushed conversation with their sergeant but couldn't make out what was being said. She kept her eyes fixed on Voight's door until Halstead exited, clearly in a hurry. He grabbed his leather jacket off his chair and waved goodbye to his team as he ran out of the bullpen and down the stairs out of the district. The rest of the team sat at their desks in shock, some of their mouths hanging open, unsure of what had just happened.

"What the hell?" Ruzek broke the silence and everyone turned their attention to Erin.

"Don't look at me!" Erin glared at her co-workers, just as confused as the rest of them. She stood up and barged into Hank's office, slamming the door behind her in frustration.

"Hank…" she started, her frustration and anger quickly turning to worry. "What just happened?"

"That's something you're going to have to ask your partner. Go, take the rest of the day." Her father figure shooed her out the door, offering no further explanation as he resumed the phone call she had interrupted.

Erin walked out of Hank's office to expectant faces from each member of the team, each silently begging her to let them in on what was going on, but she just shook her head. "I have no idea," she mumbled, grabbing her own jacket off of her chair and running out of the precinct as Jay had done minutes before.

She got into the 300 and reached into her back pocket for her phone, hitting her #1 speed dial. "Come on Jay, pick up your damn phone," she muttered as she backed out of her parking spot and began the familiar route to her partner's apartment. Of course, he didn't answer and she flipped the sirens on and broke every possible traffic law on her way to his building. When she finally reached her destination, she threw her car in park and sprinted inside the building, taking the stairs two at a time.

Jay groaned when he heard an insistent knocking on his door.

"Halstead! If you don't let me in in 10 seconds, I swear to God there will be a bullet through this lock!" His partner's voice rang out and he couldn't help but smile as he made his way over to his door.

"Er-" He began as he swung the door open to reveal his very pissed off, very confused partner.

"What the hell? Why did you just storm out of the precinct like that? And who were you talking to on the phone?" she cut him off.

"It was my dad." He said simply, a statement that basically answered all of his partner's questions.

"Oh," Erin's voice became softer and concern clouded her eyes. "Is everything okay? Are you okay?"

Jay opened the door wider and motioned for her to come inside. She entered his apartment and walked over to his couch, staring at him intently as she sat down. He sat next to her and let out a deep sigh before beginning.

"His latest girlfriend left him," he started. Erin gave him a confused look, not sure why that would bother Jay, but stayed silent to let him continue. "And she left him with full custody of their four year old daughter. But my dad just accepted a short-term job offer at a hospital in Bolivia and he can't take her with him... and he called me asking me to take over custody of her until he gets back to the states…"

Erin's eyes widened and she reached for his hand, squeezing it reassuringly. "What did you say?" she asked quietly.

"He sprung it on me so fast. That was the first time I've spoken to him in over two years. But I can't let him take a four year old to Bolivia where he'll be working 70 hours a week. He wasn't even a good father when he was a stay-at-home dad in America. So I said yes, out of panic, but then I realized that I can't take care of a kid. I've never even met her, Erin…" he let go of Erin's hand and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and burying his head in his hands.

"Hey," she whispered, moving closer to him and reaching up to trace patterns on his back with her fingertips in an attempt to comfort him. "Damn you and your morals, Halstead. But you've got a whole team behind you – Voight, Olinsky, Antonio; they're pretty damn good at taking care of kids. And you've got me. It may not be much, but I've always got your back."

Jay turned his head in his hands to look at his partner. "That's what means the most. Come here." He sat up and pulled her into a hug, resting his chin on top of her head and squeezing her tight. "Thank you, Er. I'm sorry for storming out like that."

"I understand." She pulled out of his embrace to look at him. "So what now?"

"I have to pick her up from the airport in an hour… my dad said he's sending her with some clothes and essentials but that's it… Erin how do I shop for a 4 year old girl?" Jay began to panic again.

"Okay, here's what we're gonna do – you're going to calm down, then we're going to get her from the airport and we will talk to her and find out everything she likes and what she needs, then we'll take her shopping. One step at a time, partner." She smiled reassuringly, trying to hide the doubt enveloping her mind.

Jay just stared at his partner, wondering how exactly she had the power to make the world stop spinning and calm him down even when everything around him seemed to be crumbling. "Thank you," he repeated.

"That's why you have back up. Now let's go in case we hit traffic." Erin stood from the couch then reached for his hand and pulled him up too. "By the way, I'm driving." She looked back at him with a smile as they made their way out the door.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

"Jay, stop pacing and come sit down." Erin begged.

Jay sighed and sat in the seat beside Erin in the O'Hare arrivals terminal, now bouncing his knees up and down to channel his nervous energy. Erin was about to make a sassy remark about that too when her attention was captured by a little girl with curly brown hair and bright blue eyes making her way to them. She had to be a Halstead. Erin squeezed Jay's shoulder reassuringly as he stood up and made his way towards the young girl and the older woman accompanying her.

"Hey, I'm Jay…" he said quietly, squatting down so he was eye level with the little girl who looked as nervous as he did.

The annoyed-looking older woman interrupted his introduction. "I was her nanny out in California, but now that you're here I am officially free. Have fun." She dropped a backpack in Jay's lap and practically ran back through the airport without so much as even a goodbye, showing just how much she had cared.

"I'm Brielle…" the younger Halstead whispered with a shaky voice, watching her nanny disappear into the distance.

"It's very nice to meet you," Jay told her, unsure of where to go from here. He glanced back to Erin, who was watching him intently, and silently begged her to come help him.

Erin stood up from the chair and made her way towards Jay and his little sister, both of whom looked terrified. She crouched down next to Jay and smiled at the young girl. "Hi Brielle, I'm Erin. I'm your brother's partner at work. How are you?" she asked gently.

"You're pretty," Brielle whispered, her voice still shaking.

"Thank you sweetheart, so are you." Erin reached out and brushed one of Brielle's curls out of her face. "Why don't we go pick up your suitcase then we can go get some food?" she suggested.

Brielle nodded and Erin and Jay stood up from the floor and began to make their way towards baggage claim. Brielle reached out and grabbed Erin's hand when they began to walk and the sight caused Jay's heart to swell. Luckily, Brielle's luggage was the first bag on the carousel and they were able to leave the airport quickly. Jay helped Brielle with her seatbelt in the back before he climbed into the passenger seat.

"You okay?" Erin asked quietly once he got in. Jay just nodded, so she turned around to face Brielle. "What do you want to eat?" she asked softly.

The little girl just shrugged, so Erin continued. "Here in Chicago we have reallllly good food. What do you like? Chicken tenders? Hot dogs? Pizza? Cheeseburgers? Pancakes? Ice cream?"

Brielle's face lit up. "Ice cream? But it's dinner time!"

"But we're celebrating! Do you want ice cream for dinner?" Erin asked, mirroring Brielle's smile.

Brielle eagerly nodded. "Yes please!" Her voice was strong, no longer shaking, and she had finally stopped whispering.

"Well then ice cream it is. Right, Jay?" Erin turned back to her partner, who was staring at her in amazement.

"Right." He choked out, laying a hand over Erin's hand on the gearshift and squeezing it as a silent thank you.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

The three sat at a table in the back of Coldstone as Brielle chowed down on her vanilla ice cream with gummy bears.

"So, Brielle, tell me about yourself…" Jay said nervously, still unsure of how Erin was communicating with the young girl so easily.

Brielle shrugged. "My name is Brielle Anna Halstead but mommy and daddy call me Brie. I'm four years old and I go to pre-school and I like princesses and the color pink." She said simply, but neither detective missed the way her voice began to shake again when speaking to her brother.

"Oh my gosh, Brie, I love princesses too!" Erin smiled.

"Who's your favorite?" the younger girl asked, her voice strong again.

"Definitely Ariel. I want to be a mermaid!" Erin declared, earning a laugh from Jay. "How about you?"

"I like Rapunzel. Tangled is my favorite movie." Brielle shared before stifling a yawn.

"Are you tired?" Jay asked his little sister, who nodded.

"You've had a long day, huh?" Erin asked.

Brielle nodded again. "Daddy picked me up early from pre-school today and told me that I had to come live in Chicago because he was going away to help save people. I didn't sleep on the airplane because I was too scared."

Both Erin and Jay's hearts broke for the young girl in front of them. "Daddy just told you that you were moving today?" Erin asked.

"Yeah." Brielle said quietly, yawning again.

Jay felt anger bubbling inside of him, unsure about how his father could do this to his poor daughter, but he wasn't surprised. "Let's get you home then. We can go shopping tomorrow."

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Brielle fell asleep in the car on the way back to Jay's building and Jay carried her into his apartment and laid her down in the spare bedroom. He made his way back out to his living room, where Erin sat on his couch sorting through Brielle's suitcase.

"She hates me." He declared.

Erin looked up at her partner and shook her head. "Jay, she doesn't hate you. She's just scared, her entire life just changed. A few hours ago she was having story time at preschool and suddenly she's been dropped in Chicago with a stranger." She said softly.

"But she warmed up to you so easily. She won't even talk to me without whispering or shaking."

"It's a girl thing. She's just tired and confused, I promise. I bet everything will be better in the morning. Jay, she's going to be so thankful for you."

Jay nodded. "Thanks, Er. I don't know what I would've done without you today."

Erin smiled as she stood up. "I'm gonna get going. I organized most of her stuff; your dad packed her a lot. I don't think you'll need to do too much shopping but let me know if you need anything, okay?"

Jay walked towards his partner and enveloped her in a hug. He whispered one final thank you into her hair, then watched her as she pulled away and walked out of his door. He sighed as he dropped down onto his couch and reflected on how much his life had changed in one day. As always, his only constant was Erin. He was so thankful that she was his best friend, but he wanted so much more. He groaned aloud thinking of Voight's stupid no in-house romance policy, before silently scolding himself and telling him to take his mind off Erin because he had to focus on taking care of the child sleeping in the next room over.

He must have dozed off on the couch at some point, because at 1:34 a.m. he was woken up by stifled sobs coming from the guest room. He shot up and ran into the room to find a crying Brielle curled up in the corner of the bed.

"Hey, Brie..." he said softly. "It's me, Jay. You're in Chicago with me, remember?"

Brielle turned her head to look at him but the sobs continued. "Rin-" she choked out between cries, and Jay sighed, not knowing what was wrong but knowing exactly who she was asking for.

"Why don't you come watch TV on the couch with me and we can call Erin on the phone?" he suggested.

The little girl shook her head and began to cry harder, sending Jay into a panic. He pulled his phone out of his back pocket and dialed his partner's number.


	2. Chapter 2

okay wow thank you for all of that sweet feedback! you guys are the best and i'm so glad you like this idea! xo :)

Erin had showed up at Jay's door for Brie at 2 a.m. that night and for the two nights following that before she and Jay decided it would just be easier for her to spend the night on the fourth night, in case the young girl woke up crying for her again. Brie was having difficulty adjusting to life in Chicago and still hadn't warmed up to Jay. While Erin was at work, Brie spent most of her time in her new bedroom playing with the Barbie dolls the detectives had bought her. The week off that Voight had given Jay was quickly coming to an end and Jay was desperately trying to find an affordable pre-school program, to no avail. As Erin and Jay sat on his couch that night, Erin couldn't help but notice the stress radiating from her partner.

"Hey," she said gently, breaking him from his thoughts. "I can hear you thinking from over here, what's up?"

"I knew it was gonna be hard, but not this hard, Er…" Jay mumbled.

"What do you mean?" she changed her position on the couch so she was facing him. "Jay, Brie is doing great. You're doing great. Yeah, she's shy, but she loves her big brother, I can tell. It's only been a few days, you gotta give her time. Who knows what she went through with your dad and his girlfriend."

Jay looked over at his partner and was overcome with the familiar calm feeling he got whenever he met her hazel eyes. "I can't afford pre-school." He nearly whispered, embarrassed.

"Why didn't you just say something?" Erin began, but Jay cut her off.

"Erin, I'm not going to ask you for money to put my sister through preschool-"

"That's good, because I wasn't going to offer money," she smirked, and Jay quickly shut up, interested in what she had to say. "Annie works at a great preschool just around the corner from the district. Travis went there and he loved it. I can ask her to pull some strings."

Jay's jaw dropped and he just stared at her, amazed. Was there anything this girl couldn't handle? She was perfect. At a loss for words, he leaned across the couch and brought his face closer to hers. Erin noticed what he was doing and froze. She wanted this, she wanted it so bad, but she knew they couldn't. But as Jay's lips got closer to hers, she lost all control of her body and sat there, paralyzed and unable to pull away. The kiss was gentle at first but they were quickly fighting for power, tongues darting back and forth. After a minute, Erin regained control of her body and when she realized what she was doing, her eyes snapped open and she pushed against Jay's chest, trying to push him away.

"Jay. No. No no no. We can't." she spoke fast and turned around to look for her jacket so Jay couldn't see the tears threatening to fall from her eyes. The words Hank had said to her just yesterday, when he realized the increasing amount of time the partners had been spending together, rang through her head. _"Remember that I don't do in house romance, Erin. Your partner needs this job to provide for that kid, don't make me kick him out of my unit."_ Erin lost the battle with her tears as she grabbed her jacket from Jay's kitchen chair. She couldn't do this. She'd left a trail of broken hearts behind since she was fifteen; she had to leave before she broke both Jay and Brielle's hearts.

"I'm sorry," she choked out as she made her way to his apartment door and out into the cold Chicago night.

Jay was still sitting on his couch, frozen in shock, unsure of how three minutes ago he had been on top of the world and now everything was spiraling out of control. As if on cue, there was a whimper from Brielle's room and he sighed, knowing he would have to handle this one on his own.

Brielle was surprisingly easy to calm tonight and she even gave Jay a hug when he got up to walk out of the room. He cringed as Erin's encouraging words from earlier echoed in his mind. _Give her time. She loves her big brother._ Of course she was right, she was always right. But his thoughts were quickly redirected to ten minutes earlier when she had gone running out of his apartment after the greatest kiss he'd ever had. Sighing, he made his way over to his liquor cabinet and reached up to the top shelf for a bottle of scotch.

When he opened his eyes the next morning, he realized he'd fallen asleep on the couch and cursed himself for the pain in his back but he was quickly distracted by the throbbing in his head as the memories of last night that he'd tried to drown out with alcohol came flooding back. Most mornings this week he'd been upset that he couldn't go into work, but today he was thankful because last night he was positive he'd ruined the best thing that had ever happened to him - his partnership with Erin.

The padding of bare feet down the hallway pulled his attention back to the present and he sat up on the couch to see a sleepy Brie making her way out of her bedroom.

"Good morning, Brie," he mumbled tiredly.

"Hi," she said quietly, climbing onto the couch next to him. "Is Erin already at work?"

Jay sighed, realizing his sister may take this even harder than him. "Yeah, she is. But she may not be around for a while…"

Brie's blue eyes instantly filled with tears and hurt flashed across her face. "Did she leave because she doesn't like me? That's why daddy said mommy left. I'm sorry," she cried out, crawling across the couch to Jay and burying her head in his chest. He felt tears soaking through his shirt and knew that if his heart wasn't broken after last night, it most certainly was now.

"No, no. Erin loves you, Brie. I just did something really stupid." Jay told his sister hoarsely, holding her tighter as she continued to cry into his chest.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Erin buzzed herself upstairs and made her way into the bullpen, nearly chugging the coffee she was using to nurse her own hangover. She was late, so it was no surprise that the entire unit was staring at her when she got to the top of the stairs.

"Nice of you to join us, Lindsay." Voight boomed, earning him a death glare.

"Woah, Linds, you look like shit," Ruzek exclaimed, earning a slap from Burgess who was filling in for Jay.

"Bite me, Ruzek." Erin rasped, dropping her coat at her desk and going straight to the break room for more coffee.

Concerned, Kim followed her best friend into the break room and closed the door behind them. "Erin? Are you okay?" Erin looked up at her and made eye contact for the first time and Burgess gasped when she saw her puffy red eyes. "What happened?"

"Nothing. I was stupid." Erin said coldly, replacing the coffee pot and trying to get past Burgess to return to the bullpen.

"Is Jay okay?" Burgess asked, knowing the mention of her partner's name would slow Erin down.

The older detective just shrugged. "Probably not."

"And why would that be?"

"Probably because he's raising a four year old by himself." Erin shrugged again, now avoiding eye contact.

"But he's not. He has you." Burgess pointed out.

"Not anymore." Erin turned away so the officer couldn't see the new batch of tears that had just formed in her eyes.

"Why not?" Kim asked softly, placing a hand on Erin's shoulder to force her to turn around.

As soon as Erin met her best friend's eyes again, the tears fell and there was nothing either woman could do to stop them. "Because he kissed me last night. He kissed me and I ran away so I couldn't break his heart, so instead I broke mine."

"Erin…" Burgess didn't know what to say as she pulled the detective into a hug. "Jay loves you so much…."

"Not helping, Burgess," Erin choked out before the words fully sunk in. "Wait. How do you know?"

Kim silently cursed herself for letting it slip, but she knew right now Erin needed to know. "He told me, Erin. That boy is so in love with you it's scary. The night after your high school reunion, Adam and I saw him at Molly's and he was just so happy. It was weird, so we got a few shots into him and eventually he told us that you promised him a 'one-day' or something like that. And I can see the way he looks at you."

If anything, Kim's words were just making Erin cry harder and making her heart shatter into even more pieces. "Kim I fucked up so bad," she sobbed. "I let Hank get into my head and I ruined the best thing that ever happened to me."

"So go talk to Hank. Then go talk to Jay." Kim said simply.

"I can't."

"Why not?" Burgess challenged.

"Hank told me yesterday he would kick Jay out of the unit. And I'm at work and I can't let this get in the way of the case-"

"Stop rambling. Stop coming up with excuses. Today is a paperwork day, and Hank's already staring at you through the window. Go. Tell him what you just told me." Kim reached forward and wiped the tears from her best friend's cheeks.

"Thank you." Erin whispered, standing up to see that her pseudo-father was indeed staring at her with concern plastered all over his face. He motioned to his office door and she nodded, making her way out of the break room.

"What's wrong, kid?" Hank asked, sitting at his desk as Erin walked in and closed the door behind her.

"I…" Erin shut her eyes for a second to control the tears and took a deep breath, not sure how to say what she needed to. "I want to date Jay."

Hank sighed as he looked at the normally strong but currently so broken detective in front of him. "Erin, I need my team focused. I can't have the two of you thinking about playing house with a little girl while we're working a case."

"You pardoned Burgess and Ruzek." Erin challenged.

"Burgess isn't up here full time." Hank shrugged.

"But when she is – it makes no difference in their work. And they're both new officers! Jay and I have been working together for almost two years. You know we could handle this!" Erin nearly screamed, her voice rising as her sadness turned to frustration.

"Where is this coming from, Erin?" her father figure asked sternly.

"I don't know!" she cried. "I've been burying it for so long because I don't want to go against you. But I can't hide it anymore! Jay is going through something, and he needs me. And now there's a little girl in the picture, and I think she needs me too. I know you've sacrificed a lot to make me who I am today, and I'm so thankful for that Hank, I really am. But after all those sacrifices, don't you want me to be happy?"

Voight looked at his daughter and admired the fire in her eyes. "Ya know, kid, you remind me more of Camille everyday."

"Hank…"

"And you know what Camille would say if she was here right now?" He asked and Erin shook her head, almost afraid of the answer. "She'd tell me to stop being so damn hard on you. You're good police, Erin. And so is your partner. And I do want you to be happy. But if I see one thing that I don't like – if this changes your work in the slightest, he's out. Are we clear?"

"Crystal." A stray tear fell out of Erin's eye, but this time it was a happy tear.

"Take the rest of the day." Hank sighed. "But this is it, I'm sick of you and that _boyfriend_ of yours running out of here!" he said, but Erin could sense the teasing in his voice.

"He's not my boyfriend yet." Erin shrugged, giving her father a thankful smile.

"He will be in about twenty minutes… unless you plan on sitting here all day? What are you waiting for, Erin? I told you – go."

Erin stood and walked around Hank's desk to envelope him in a hug. "Thank you." She whispered.

"You deserve it, kid. Bring your soon-to-be boyfriend and his sister to Sunday dinner this weekend, alright?" Hank squeezed her then shooed her out the door.

xoxoxoxoxo

Erin had déjà vu as she drove to Jay's apartment with the lights on and sirens blasting. She parked in the same parking spot as she had just a few days ago and once again took the stairs two at a time before banging on his door, her heart pounding.

Jay groaned when he heard the knocking and he had no idea who it could possibly be. He was certain that the only person he wanted it to be wouldn't be back anytime soon. He made his way over to the door and swung it open, his breath catching in his throat when he saw who was on the other side.

As soon as Erin saw his sad blue eyes burning into hers, she reached out and grabbed his face, a palm on each cheek, and crashed her lips into his. "I'm so sorry," she mumbled between kisses. After a minute, she pulled away and wrapped her arms tight around his waist, her head buried in his chest.

Jay was confused, to say the least. He'd never been so happy to see Erin and he hugged her tight but he was unsure of what was going on. It didn't seem like she was going to let go of him, so he lifted her up and carried her over to the couch so they were no longer standing in his doorway.

"I'm so sorry." She repeated, lifting her head from his chest to look at him.

"Erin, no. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have kissed you."

"No. You should have. I've been leading you on this whole time but I've been burying my feelings because I didn't want to upset Voight but then I upset you and I almost ruined the best thing that's ever happened to me and-" Erin was speaking fast, more tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

Jay put a finger up to her lips. "Hey, you're rambling."

Erin couldn't help but smile. "I told Voight I wanted to date you."

"What?" Jay's eyes widened, his life once again doing a complete 180-degree rotation.

"He said it's okay, we just need to keep it professional. Oh, and you're coming to Sunday dinner this week." She smiled, reaching out to grab Jay's hand.

Jay was once again at a loss for words as he leaned in to kiss her, just as he had done the night before. Only this time, she didn't pull away and she wasn't sure she was ever going to – until both she and Jay heard the patter of little feet coming down the hallway.

"Erin!" Brielle exclaimed, running over to the couch and jumping onto her lap. "You came back!"

Erin's eyes once again filled with tears and she cursed herself for having so many damn tears, but these were most definitely very happy tears. "Of course I did, pretty girl." She placed a kiss on to Brie's head and Jay placed a kiss onto Erin's, squeezing both his girls tight.


	3. Chapter 3

hi everyone! your reviews are making me so happy, thank you so much!

flashback is in italics in this chapter :) enjoy! xo

Jay's eyes shot open when he reached across his bed to pull Erin closer to him but was met with cold, empty sheets. Had last night been a dream? Or worse, did she regret it and run again? Groaning, he ripped the covers off of him and was about to get up to check on Brielle when a piece of paper on his dresser caught his eye.

 _J –_

 _Went for a run then to meet Annie to talk about getting Brie into preschool. Don't forget about Voight's tonight ;) I'll call you when I know you're awake._

 _Xo, E_

Jay read the note twice, a huge grin stretching across his face with each word. Last night had been real and he could finally call Erin Lindsay his; something he'd been wanting to do for nearly two years. He was terrified of having dinner at Voight's tonight but he knew she was worth the possible black eye his sergeant might give him. He heard the TV turn on in the living room and made his way out of the bedroom to see his sister climbing onto the couch.

"Hey B," he greeted her, making his way into the kitchen. He smiled when he saw the pot of coffee Erin had left waiting for him and graciously poured himself a cup.

"Hi," she yawned, taking a bite from the plate of pancakes in her lap.

"Where did you get those?" Jay looked around the kitchen, confused.

"I made them with Erin this morning before she left. She heard me playing with my Barbies and came in my room to ask if I was hungry. She even let me put sprinkles in the batter!" the little girl explained excitedly, holding up a piece so Jay could see the rainbow specks.

Jay beamed. Damn, his girl was perfect. "And you guys didn't make any for me?" he asked, pretending to be hurt.

Brie shrugged. "You snooze, you lose!" she giggled.

"Let me guess, Erin said that?" He could picture her dimples deepening as her and Brie laughed over their stupid joke.

His sister nodded, a huge smile on her face. She climbed back down from the couch and made her way into the kitchen with her plate, holding a forkful of pancakes out towards Jay. "Do you want some?" she asked.

"No thank you, I was just joking with you." He smiled down at his little sister, so happy she had been warming up to him the past two days. "Did Erin tell you what we're doing tonight?"

She nodded again. "She said we're going to her dad's house for dinner. And she told me to make sure you look nice." 

Jay rolled his eyes. "I always look nice, B."

Brie laughed. "She said you'd say that." Jay just shook his head. The tag-team between Erin and Brielle was going to be the death of him, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

"Erin!" Annie squealed, standing from her table in the coffee shop to give her long lost friend a tight hug.

"Hi!" Erin squeezed her back before the two sat down and flowed right into easy, light conversation.

Erin was in the middle of telling Annie a story about Justin's son Daniel when Annie suddenly interrupted her. "You look happy. Like reallllly happy."

Her comment caught Erin off guard but the detective's smile still widened as her dimples popped out even more. "I… I am."

"Is it Jay?"

Erin felt her cheeks redden as she nodded. "Yeah… We, um, got together. Just yesterday, actually."

"It's about time!" Annie exclaimed, reaching across the table to squeeze Erin's hand.

"How did you know?" Erin asked, confused. She wasn't one to talk about boys to her friends and she definitely couldn't recall telling Annie any stories recently.

"Christmas Eve." Annie said simply, and Erin smiled at the memory. They had just become partners and it had been Jay's first Christmas in the unit and his first alone in Chicago since he and Allie broke up and she moved away. Erin had been telling Jay about the ridiculous ugly sweater party that she and Voight hosted at her apartment every Christmas Eve.

" _It's ridiculous. Last year, Olinsky wore a live Christmas tree on his sweater." Erin laughed at the memory._

" _No way. What about Voight?" Jay asked._

" _Full on Santa suit. And he was stupid drunk off eggnog."_

 _Jay almost spit out his coffee at that mental picture, but quickly became serious. "Do you think… maybe I could stop by this year?" he asked, almost sheepishly._

" _Are you kidding? You're a part of this unit now! I'd be offended if you weren't there, partner." Erin smiled, punching Jay's shoulder as she made her way out of the break room._

 _Christmas Eve rolled around and between the wine she'd been sipping while preparing food all day and the Fireball shots she'd taken with Voight and Olinsky, Erin was a little tipsy. Still feeling out of place being so new to the unit, Jay arrived late and when he finally knocked on the door, Erin was happy to see him (to say the least)._

" _Jaaaaay!" she screeched, running across her living room to give him a hug._

" _Hey, partner." He smiled, holding out the bottle of liquor he'd brought. She led him into the kitchen and they bumped into Annie on the way._

" _Annie!" Erin exclaimed. "This is Jay. He's new to Intelligence but he's the best partner I've ever had." She looked from Annie to Jay, her gaze locking with Jay's. Unsteady, she leaned back on him as they stood against her countertop._

" _It's nice to meet you, Jay. I've got a feeling I'll be seeing a lot of you in the future." Annie smiled kindly, making her way out of the kitchen._

"Oh my god! Was it that obvious?" Erin covered her face, embarrassed.

"Er, before about five minutes ago, I figured you two were dating for like two years at this point," Annie admitted.

Erin's jaw dropped. "No. No no. Hank doesn't do in-house romance. But Jay recently gained custody of his little sister and I've been helping out a lot and… I don't know. I couldn't lie to myself any more, and I bawled my eyes out to Hank yesterday and somehow got his permission." She laughed sheepishly.

"Well, I'm really happy for you. He's good for you, I could tell the second I met him. And you deserve it, don't fool yourself into thinking otherwise." Annie told her honestly, and Erin just smiled, unsure of how she had such amazing people in her life.

"Thank you."

"Of course. Now tell me about Brielle." Annie smiled back. Erin explained the entire situation about how Jay ended up with Brielle in the first place and how he couldn't afford a pre-school program on a detective's salary.

"I already talked to the owner and because Jay is a detective, she'd be happy to let Brielle attend classes for free for the rest of the year until she's enrolled in kindergarten. Her husband is a retired detective from the 26th district, she's got a soft spot for law enforcement. It's a great place – you know Travis loved it, and it really got him ready for kindergarten. And I'll be there to help her with anything she needs." Annie told her friend.

"Annie… wow. I don't even know what to say. Thank you so much." Erin felt tears welling up in her eyes and it wasn't even her sister that Annie was doing this for.

"Hey, anytime. It's the least I can do for Jay for making my girl happy. I have to go pick Travis up from his friend's house, but I'll see you when you bring Brie in to school." Annie stood up to hug her friend goodbye and once again Erin squeezed her tight, just wondering how she got so lucky. Once Annie was out the door, Erin finished her coffee and pulled out her phone to call Jay.

"Hey, you." He answered, and Erin could practically hear him smiling.

"Hey yourself. Are you ready for tonight?" she asked for her own amusement.

"Funny." Jay said dryly. "Brie seems pretty tired, maybe we should sit this one out…"

"Shut up," Erin laughed into the phone. "I know how to cheer you up."

"Come over?" he suggested hopefully.

"As good as that sounds, I think you and Brie need some time alone together. But I was going to say that I talked to Annie about preschool."

"And?"

"Brie's in. Free for the rest of the year." Erin told him.

"Er, how? That's amazing. Thank you so much. Please come over so I can show you how thankful I am?" he smirked as if Erin could see him through the phone.

"Good try. Maybe you'll just have to show me tonight." She teased.

"But we'll be at Voight's." Jay whined.

"Grow a pair, Halstead. I'm picking you up at two. Look nice, okay?"

"Why does everyone keep telling me that?" he whined again.

"Bye babe." Erin laughed into the speaker as she hung up her phone. Across the city, Jay's heart soared when he heard the B-word come out of her mouth.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

At 1:30, Erin knocked on the door to Jay's apartment and Brie swung the door open.

"Erin!" she exclaimed, hugging the detective's legs.

"Hey sweet girl!" Erin greeted her. "I love your dress!" Brie was wearing an adorable pink sweater dress that she and Erin had picked out when they'd gone shopping the other night.

"It's my favorite. It looks like something Rapunzel would wear." The little girl told her.

"It does." Erin winked. "Where's your brother?"

"Trying to look nice." Brie said with a giggle, pointing towards Jay's bedroom. Erin made her way down the hall and quietly walked up to her shirtless boyfriend, who was staring into his closet, oblivious to her presence. She wrapped her arms around his back and placed a kiss between his shoulder blades.

"Hi," she whispered into his back.

Jay jumped at her touch but welcomed it immediately, covering her hands with his. "Hey beautiful." He turned around so Erin's face was in his chest as he kissed the top of her head.

"Your heart is pounding." She observed, looking up at him with eyes clouded with concern.

"I don't know what to wear, and I need to impress him, and-" Jay began to ramble.

"Hey," Erin interrupted him by placing a quick kiss on his lips. "You already impressed him. He invited you, didn't he?" she snaked out of Jay's embrace and walked over to his closet, pulling out a light blue button down and a pair of jeans and handed them to him.

"Thank you," he mumbled but as he met her eyes he was overcome with that familiar feeling of calm.

"Erin! Can you braid my hair?" Brie came wandering in the room, looking confused and holding a hairbrush.

"Of course, B." Erin smiled back at Jay as she took the little girl's hand and Brie led her into her bedroom.

Fifteen minutes later, Jay emerged from his bedroom to find Erin and Brie lying on the couch watching Dora. He cleared his throat to make his presence known and Erin sat up, smiling at him.

"You look nice," she winked as she made her way over to him.

"You look beautiful," he answered, leaning in to meet her lips.

"You don't have to sweet talk me, Halstead. You already got in my pants." She mumbled against his lips.

"I'll be sweet talking you til the day I die, Erin Lindsay." Jay pressed a final kiss to her lips before making his way over to the couch to make sure Brie was ready to go.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

"Are your hands shaking?" Erin questioned as they made their way up to Hank's front door.

"Psh, no." Jay lied, shoving them in his pockets.

Erin rolled her eyes as she rang the doorbell.

"No keys this time?" Jay teased.

"You really want to be punched in the face, don't you?" Erin smiled sweetly as she joked, but Jay took her 100% seriously and shut up.

Hank swung the door open and enveloped Erin in a tight hug. "Hey, kid."

"Hi dad. There's someone I want you to meet," she hugged back before pulling away and crouching down next to Brie, who was standing nervously next to Jay. "This is Jay's little sister, Brielle. Brielle, this is my dad."

"Very nice to meet you. I'm Hank." The sergeant stuck his hand out and Brie shook it softly, then Hank moved his attention to Jay.

"Sergeant." Jay said nervously, shaking Jay's hand.

"We're not in the office, Halstead. Call me Hank."

"Yes sir… I mean Hank."

Erin rolled her eyes at her dorky boyfriend as she led the group into the kitchen. "It smells so good!" she moaned.

"I'm making Camille's lasagna, your favorite." Hank told her and she smiled gratefully. "It's almost ready, why don't you and Brielle go watch TV while Jay helps me set the table?"

Erin tried to stifle her laughter as she watched Jay's face visibly pale. "Be nice, Hank," she warned as she took Brie's hand to lead her into the living room.

"Not to be disrespectful or anything, but the table's already set…" Jay started once the girls had left the room.

"I know. But I wanted to talk to you." The older man shrugged. "You knew the rules, Halstead-"

"I'm sorry, but-" Jay cut him off.

"Would you let me finish? Erin knew the rules too, but Erin Lindsay is not one to follow my rules. Hasn't been a fan of any of my rules since she was 15 years old. Honestly, I'm surprised it took her this long to break this one, but if she was going to break it with anyone, I'm glad it was you. You're good for her, Halstead."

Jay was speechless. "Thank you, sir."

"It's Hank, remember? But if you hurt her- if you hurt either girl in that room- they won't find your body. Got it?"

Jay nodded. "Got it. Thank you."

"Good. Now go get your girls and tell them dinner is ready."


	4. Chapter 4

Dinner at Voight's house had gone well. Erin would never admit it, but she had been nervous when Hank ordered her to bring Jay and Brie over for dinner. It had been a long time since she'd brought a guy home to Hank, plus there was the additional factor that the guy was Jay Halstead. And while Hank would never admit it, he enjoyed Jay's company that night, especially whenever he made a dumb joke and Hank got to see Erin's eyes light up in a way that he hadn't seen in a long time. The dynamic between Erin and Brielle was incredible and Hank had tears in his eyes from laughing so hard every time the two of them ganged up on Jay.

" _Halstead," Erin paused to swallow a piece of bread between fits of laughter. "You are not driving! Give it up!"_

" _Come on Er, I'm a good driver!" Jay protested._

 _Brielle nearly spit out the milk she was drinking. "When you drove to the store the other day I thought I was going to throw up…" The more comfortable Jay's sister got with the group, the sassier she got. It reminded Erin of her younger self and she absolutely adored it._

 _Erin and Hank burst out laughing at the little girl's confession. "Brie, one time I let Jay drive and we pulled up to a house and the guy we were trying to catch ran out the back door, so your brother just got out of the car to chase him. He left me in the car, and he left the car in drive. Personally I think he was trying to kill me because he liked driving so much he wanted to be able to do it all the time." Erin rolled her eyes towards Brie then winked at Jay._

" _It was one time!" he whined. "Just give me one more chance?"_

" _Don't do it, Erin!" Brielle warned and Jay groaned, earning another round of laughter from Erin and Hank._

"Is my driving really that bad?" Jay asked as Erin pulled out of Hank's driveway to head back to his apartment.

"Yes," both girls answered in unison, causing Erin to turn around and high-five Brielle in the backseat.

Jay rolled his eyes. "You two are gonna be the death of me," he mumbled.

"You love us," Erin smirked, side-eyeing her boyfriend.

"I love Brie, yeah. You… I could probably do without," he joked, leaning across the console to kiss Erin's cheek.

"Fine… I'll just drop you off then go back to my place for the night. Alone." Erin shrugged, then lowered her voice so Brie couldn't hear. "I'll just walk around my empty apartment in my new, very sexy bra. It's a shame, really."

Jay groaned. "You are the devil."

"You love me." She looked over to Jay and raised her eyebrow. "Giving you a second chance, Halstead."

"I do," he smiled, reaching for Erin's free hand that was resting on the console and intertwining their fingers.

"Thank God," she squeezed his hand before continuing. "Because I don't have any beer in my apartment."

Jay shook his head. "I'll take it back."

"No you won't," Erin smirked, untangling their hands to pull her shirt slightly off her shoulder, revealing a black, lacy bra strap.

"There's a child in the car." Jay whispered to suppress his groan.

Erin glanced back in her rearview mirror. "A sleeping child," she corrected him, seeing Brie lying across her back seat as she parked her car in front of Jay's building. She took the opportunity to lean across the console and capture her boyfriend's lips before he could say another word.

When they were both breathless, Jay pulled away and rested his forehead on hers. "To be continued once we get the kid in her bed," he promised, pecking her lips one last time before getting out of the car to carry his sister inside.

They made their way into Jay's building, Jay carrying Brielle in one arm and holding Erin's hand with the other. As they got close to Jay's door, Erin made out a figure slumped in front of Jay's door. She immediately stopped walking, pulling Jay's arm back with her.

"Er! What the hell?" Jay asked of her abrupt stop.

"Sorry," she whispered, pointing towards his door. "Look."

"Fuck." Jay muttered, even from down the hall he could recognize that messy red hair anywhere.

"What?"

"Can you just take her inside?" Jay asked, passing Brie to Erin but offering no further explanation.

"Jay, who is that?" Erin asked, concern clouding her voice.

"Erin, get in the apartment and I'll be right there!" Jay snapped, handing her his keys and storming past her to the figure in his hallway. "Get up," he instructed the man. Once he was on his feet, Jay dragged him back outside by the collar.

"Will, what the hell?" Jay practically screamed once they were outside the building.

"Jay… I know it's been a while, but you have a kid? Damn." Jay's older brother shifted uncomfortably.

"No, I don't have a fucking kid. That would be your sister, who I just got full custody of because, as usual, you were MIA. Why are you here?"

"Wait… what? Sister?" Will asked, ignoring Jay's question.

"Yup. Dad's new girlfriend left him with her, then dad took a job in Bolivia. I'm surprised you didn't know that, golden child. Now let me ask you again, why the hell are you here?" Jay spat angrily.

"I… I, um, accepted a job offer at Chicago Med. I just wanted to let you know I'm back. For good this time. And that I'm sorry about everything and I'm going to make it up to you. Whatever you need with this kid, I got you." Will struggled to meet his brother's eyes.

"Great." Jay rolled his eyes at the thought of having to deal with his brother everyday. "I can't do this right now," he stormed past his brother and back into the building, leaving Will standing alone in the cold Chicago night.

Erin was finishing tucking Brie into bed when she heard a knock on Jay's apartment door. She gave the little girl a kiss on the forehead then made her way back down the hall, slowly opening the door to reveal her boyfriend.

"I gave you my keys," he offered sheepishly, stepping past her and inside his apartment. Erin closed the door softly so she didn't wake Brie then made her way into the kitchen for a much needed beer, ignoring Jay.

"Erin, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you," he followed her into the kitchen.

"Jay, who was that?" she asked softly, turning around to meet his eyes. Jay had expected her to yell back at him but the concern written all over her face made him feel 10x worse for snapping at her.

"My brother."

"You have a brother?" Erin asked, confused. She took Jay's hand in hers and led him back down the hall to the living room, pulling him onto the couch next to her. She pulled her legs under her and turned sideways so she was facing him.

"Yup." Jay started, popping the p. "His name is Will, he's three years older than me. Disappeared to New York for med school right after he graduated high school. He's my dad's favorite child because he's a doctor, but I'm not sure if he's ever had a steady job. He got pretty messed up in New York, today's the first time I've seen him in years… but he came to tell me he got a job at Chicago Med."

Erin opened her mouth then shut it again, having no idea what to say. "This is good, right? Now you can both be here for Brielle…"

Jay shook his head. "I don't know, Er. It'd be great if she had another family member here, but I don't want him to disappear and break her heart. He's broken my heart a few times throughout my life and… ugh, this sucks." He dropped his head into his hands and rubbed his eyes.

Erin moved closer to him and began to gently rub his back. "Whatever you decide to do, I got you," she whispered in his ear.

Jay sat up and wrapped his arms around Erin, pulling her into him. She laid her head on his shoulder as he played with her hair. "What do I do, Er?" he mumbled hoarsely, reminding her of his first night with Brie.

"Why don't you actually talk to him?" she asked. "Maybe tomorrow night after work you guys can go out for dinner or something. I'll take Brie and we can have a girls night while you guys figure everything out."

"You would watch her?"

"Are you kidding?" Erin sat up and moved so she was facing him again. "Jay, I love that little girl. And you know I would do anything for her. And you, I guess." She smirked, then leaned forward to place a quick kiss on his lips.

Jay grabbed her head, a palm on each cheek when she tried to pull away. "Thank you," he mumbled, keeping their lips pressed together. "Now what were you saying earlier? Something about lace…" he pulled her shirt off her shoulder and began to toy with her bra strap.

Erin pulled away, her eyes sparkling as she pulled her shirt over her head in one quick motion to reveal a skimpy black lace bra. "Something about lace," she murmured, leaning forward to find his lips again.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

 _Once again, thank you guys for the reviews! I really struggled with this chapter & next chapter will have more Brie in it, I just wanted to introduce Will! If you guys have any ideas or anything else you want to see incorporated just let me know!_

 _Thank you for reading, I hope you're enjoying the story!_


	5. Chapter 5

Happy CPD finale night! ALSO major heart eyes Jesse & Soph's vacation pictures! This will probably be the last update for a few days because I'm working crazy hours for the rest of the week/weekend, so enjoy! Keep reviewing :) xo

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Erin groaned as the alarm went off and buried her face further in Jay's chest as he reached to his nightstand to turn it off. "Five more minutes," she mumbled, causing his chest to vibrate.

"Not today," Jay rolled out from under Erin, causing her to groan again. "We have to bring Brie to school before we go to the district today,"

Erin's eyes shot open and a smile crossed her face when Jay mentioned what she had forgotten. She quickly sat up and smiled at her boyfriend, who was getting changed. "Are you excited to get back to work?" she asked him.

Jay nodded as he pulled his shirt over his head. "Yeah, nervous though. What if she doesn't like school? What if something happens?"

Erin stood up from the bed and made her way across the room and over to Jay, placing a hand on his chest. "Calm down, she's gonna be fine. She already went to preschool when she lived with your dad and she's going to love her new school. Annie's gonna look out for her." She promised, reaching up on her tip toes to press a quick kiss to Jay's lips.

"Thank you for getting her in there," Jay mumbled against her lips, leaning in for another kiss.

This time it was Erin who pulled away, causing Jay to groan. "No time for that, remember?" she winked at him before turning on her heels and leaving the room to wake up Brie.

"Hey, pretty girl," Erin said softly as she walked into Brie's bedroom. "Wake up, you're going back to preschool today,"

Brie sat up quickly, a huge smile on her face. "Yay!" she squealed, climbing out of bed and running over to Erin in the doorway. "I like when you're here in the morning," she told her brother's girlfriend, looking up at her with wide blue eyes.

"Me too," Erin beamed. "What do you want to wear to school for your first day?"

"The flower dress!" Brie exclaimed, running over to her closet and tugging on the bottom of a white dress with daisies on it.

"The flower dress it is," Erin walked over to the closet and took the dress off the hanger, handing it to the little girl. "Why don't we put this sweater over it in case you get cold?" she suggested, also taking a yellow sweater out of her closet.

Brie nodded. "Can you braid my hair?"

"Of course," Erin smiled. "You get dressed then meet me in the bathroom, okay?"

Brie nodded and Erin left the room again, heading back into Jay's bedroom.

"Fuck, Jay, I have no clothes here!" she realized.

"Check the top drawer, I think you left stuff here when you came over during Brie's first night," Jay called from the bathroom.

Erin opened the top drawer of Jay's dresser and smiled when she saw a t-shirt and leggings folded neatly in the nearly empty drawer. "Jay Halstead, are you giving me a drawer?" she made her way into the bathroom and wrapped her arms around Jay's waist as he brushed his teeth.

"Maybe," Jay spit out his toothpaste and turned around to meet Erin's eyes, giving her a boyish grin. "Are you saying you want a drawer?"

"I would love one," Erin smiled and reached up to wipe excess toothpaste off Jay's lips. "But I still need a toothbrush," she laughed at Jay's groan as she reached across his counter to grab his toothbrush he'd just put back to use for herself.

"You're gross," he whined.

"No, you're gross," Brielle said nonchalantly as she entered the bathroom, hairbrush in hand, causing Erin to burst out laughing.

"Ugh, you two," Jay groaned, leaving the bathroom.

"Make us breakfast, Halstead!" Erin called after him with a mouth full of toothpaste.

"Pancakes!" Brie piped in, earning another laugh from Erin as she spit out her toothpaste.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

"Here we are!" Erin announced as she pulled into the parking lot of Brie's new preschool. "I'll stay in here, let you two say goodbye in there,"

"No, come in," both Halsteads said at the same time.

"If you insist," Erin smiled and got out of the car, leading the siblings inside. Annie was waiting at the door and engulfed Erin in a hug as soon as they got inside.

"Erin, Jay!" she said excitedly. "And who do we have here?" she asked, looking down at Brie.

"Brielle Anna Halstead," she introduced herself quietly.

"Hi Brielle, I'm Miss Annie," Annie squatted down so she was eye-level with the little girl. "We're going to have a lot of fun here, don't you think?"

Brie looked around the preschool and saw groups of children split among an arts & crafts table, story time circle, and play kitchen and nodded.

Annie smiled as she stood up and took Brie's backpack from her. "I'll let you guys say goodbye then you can meet me at the arts & crafts table, okay?"

Brie nodded again and Annie walked away, leaving Jay and Erin alone with the little girl.

"Bye, B," Erin bent down and gave the little girl a hug. "You're going to have so much fun, Miss Annie is the best. I'll see you tonight, okay?"

"Bye, Erin," Brielle hugged back then turned to Jay. "Bye, Jay."

"Bye Brielle," Jay knelt down to give his little sister a hug. "Be good, and call me if you need anything or if-"

"Jay," Erin interrupted. "She's going to be fine. Right, little babe?"

"Right," Brie beamed. "Get to work before you're late and Erin's dad yells at you."

Erin snorted and Jay rolled his eyes as he stood up. As soon as the two detectives began walking to the door, Brie turned and excitedly ran over to Annie at the art table.

"Stop worrying," Erin said to Jay as she got in the car.

"How do you know-" Jay stopped himself. "I'm not worrying."

"Mhmm," Erin rolled her eyes. "I know you, Jay Halstead."

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

The day at work was uneventful and went by painfully slow. There were no open cases and there was little paperwork to catch up on, so Erin spent the day organizing CI files while Jay helped Ruzek with inventory. 3:00 finally rolled around and Hank let Jay and Erin leave early to pick up Brie from preschool. Erin had a few errands to run before she babysat Brie that night so she was dropping Jay off at his apartment to get his own car to pick up his sister while Erin went to the store.

"Are you meeting your brother tonight?" Erin asked to break the silence as they drove to his apartment.

"Um, yeah, I guess." Jay mumbled.

"Don't shut me out, Jay. Please."

"I'm trying here, Er, it's just hard. I know I told you some of it last night, but Will and I have had a… complicated past. And there's some things I really don't want to talk about. I'm going to try to get through tonight for the sake of Brie but I really don't know if I can do this…" Jay took a deep breath and looked out the window, clearly done talking.

"Just know I'm here for you," Erin sighed, pulling in front of Jay's building. "I'll be over around six for Brie, okay?"

Jay nodded. "Thank you," He leaned over the console to give Erin a quick kiss before getting out of the car.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

"Did you have a good first day of preschool, B?" Jay asked as they walked out of the building and to his car.

"Ugh, you drove here? Where's Erin?" Brielle ignored his question.

"Good to see you too, Brie," Jay rolled his eyes.

"Sorry," Brie stopped walking and wrapped her arms around her brother's knees to capture him in a hug. "I just hate your driving,"

"Yeah, yeah," Jay opened the car door for his little sister. "But Er's gonna babysit you tonight when I go to dinner with someone,"

"Really!?" her baby blue eyes lit up. "Who are you going to dinner with?"

"Our brother Will."

"Is he a doctor?"

"Yup. He just got a job here in Chicago." Jay explained dryly.

"That's who I thought you were," Brielle admitted. "Dad has pictures of him in the house and he talks about him a lot. So when he said I was going to move in with my brother for a little I thought it was him. I didn't know I had another brother…"

Jay's heart sank at her words but he knew he shouldn't have expected anything more. His father had disowned him the second he joined the army and now they were only speaking because his father had needed something.

Sensing her brother's quiet disposition, Brie continued. "But I'm really glad I'm with you. And Erin," she reached up from the back seat and squeezed Jay's free arm that was resting on the console.

"Thanks, B." Jay smiled softly. "Now tell me about your first day of school,"

"I made so many new friends! My new best friend's name is Jenna and she's also best friends with Kylie who is so nice. And Michelle taught me how to make friendship bracelets and Joey taught me how to draw dinosaurs. Then I played dolls with Molly and her brother Alex. And Miss Annie is the nicest teacher ever!" the 4-year-old gushed.

"Wow, sounds like you had a busy day. Are you sure you're not too tired to hang with Erin tonight?" Jay asked, pulling into his parking spot in front of his apartment.

"No!" Brie nearly screamed, causing Jay to chuckle.

"Calm down B, I was kidding." Jay got out of the car and opened the back door for his sister to get out. "She's coming over at six, why don't you go get in the bath so you're ready when she comes?" Brielle nodded and ran into the building, excited for her night with Erin.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Erin knocked on the door to Jay's apartment and Brie quickly ran to open it. "Erin!" she exclaimed.

"Hey sweet girl," Erin bent down to give her a hug. "How was school today?"

"So good!" Brie grabbed Erin's hand and led her into her bedroom. "Look at the friendship bracelets I made!"

"Wow! They look so good!" Erin smiled at the little girl's excitement. "I'm gonna go tell Jay I'm here, I'll be right back."

"He's in a really bad mood," Brie warned and Erin sighed. His bedroom door was closed and Erin knocked on it gently before opening it.

"Babe?" she said softly.

"Hey," Jay grunted from the corner of the room as he pulled a clean t-shirt over his head.

"You ready?"

"Nope," Jay brushed past her into the bathroom and she sighed. Erin knew she should leave him alone but she followed him, not being able to watch him do this to himself.

"Hey," Erin cornered him between his bathroom counter and her body. "Stop doing this. Stop taking it out on everyone who doesn't deserve it. Your four year old sister just told me to be careful of you because you're in such a bad mood."

Jay opened his mouth to say something then quickly shut it, taking a deep breath. "My mom was dying, Erin. She was dying and he was in New York, nowhere to be found. He blamed me for going to Afghanistan. According to Will and my dad, me leaving to fight for our country caused my mother to get cancer, so no one took care of her but me. They left me alone to care for her, and they left me alone when she died." He choked out, his eyes glazing over with tears.

Erin's breath caught in her throat. She had expected him to push her away, to tell her that he was fine. She never expected him to open up like that, not right then. "It's not your fault." She brought her hand up to cup his cheek, rubbing her thumb over his stubble. "Everything happens for a reason, Jay. You are the best thing that could have happened to Brielle, okay? Just remember that what you're doing tonight is for her, and I know you're going to make the right decisions."

Jay nodded and brought his hand on top of hers on his cheek. "I'm sorry for taking this out on you."

"We're going to talk more tonight, okay? But try to enjoy yourself at dinner, maybe he's changed. Everybody deserves a second chance."

Jay rolled his eyes but smiled. "Let me guess, the sign at the coffee shop?"

Erin nodded and removed her hand from his cheek, intertwining her hands behind his neck and pulling him down for a kiss. "You'll be fine," she mumbled against his lips.

"As long as I get to come home to my girls." Jay agreed.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

 _Next chapter – sometime next week – will have Erin & Brie's night as well as Jay & Will's dinner! Thanks for reading! _


	6. Chapter 6

Jay walked into Molly's and groaned when he spotted his brother sitting on a barstool, probably flirting with the bartender (who he definitely didn't know was Jay's ex-girlfriend). Jay had hoped he could knock back a few beers and get a buzz going before Will showed up, but that plan was clearly not happening now.

Jay cleared his throat to make his presence known as he slid onto the barstool next to his brother. "Hey," he grunted, with Erin's words about second chances echoing through his mind.

"Hey Jay," Will greeted his brother before turning his attention back to Gabby Dawson. "Can I get a beer for him? What do you wan-" Before Will could finish his question, Gabby slid a bottle down to Jay who nodded graciously and took a long sip.

"Sooo you guys know each other?" Will asked awkwardly.

"You could say that," Gabby laughed and made her way down the bar to help new customers, leaving the brothers alone at last.

"So," Jay started, choosing to pretend the moment with Gabby hadn't happened, "How'd you end up in Chicago?"

Will sighed, knowing it was time to begin the explanation he'd owed his brother for years. "After I finished med school, I was in debt. It was bad. I didn't want to ask dad for help – after I saw what he did to you when you joined the army, I really wanted nothing to do with him. I was so ashamed to be related to him, Jay, I swear. I was proud of you and what you were doing for our country and I was disgusted at his reaction. I don't know how much of this you know, but when you were overseas, dad and I barely spoke. I was in school, so whenever he wanted to meet up or something, I just told him I was too busy. But then I graduated and I couldn't get a job, and all of the sudden it was time to start paying back my student loans and I was behind on my apartment rent and I didn't know what to do, so I had to ask dad for help. He used your trust fund to pay off my student loans and he helped me out on rent whenever I needed it. With him paying for everything, I was able to spend all of my money on alcohol and I really fell off the wagon for a few years, but dad didn't even care. As long as he could tell his friends that his son was a doctor, he didn't even care if I was practicing. But the worst point of my addiction was when mom got sick and you came home. That was the lowest point of my life, Jay, and I regret it everyday. Instead of telling my little brother how proud I was of him, I was following my no-good father around like a lost puppy just so he would pay my bills. I abandoned you and mom and I'm so sorry. When mom died and dad moved to California, he gave me one final check and suddenly I had more money than I'd ever seen in my entire life but finally it clicked. Seven years of med school and it took me that long to realize I was killing myself from the inside out. I used the money to check myself into rehab and finally got a job in the ER at a little community hospital in upstate New York. My old boss transferred to Chicago Med about a year ago and we still keep in touch so he recently told me about an opening in the trauma department and I decided to take it. I figured it was time to come home, do it right this time. Let my little brother know how damn proud of him I am." Will finally finished his speech and felt like mountains had been lifted off his shoulders.

Jay opened his mouth then closed it again, unsure of what to do with the information he had just been given. He took a long sip of his beer. "When's the last time you talked to dad?"

"Five years ago? Right after I got out of rehab and got the ER job in New York. Once I had a steady paycheck coming in, I didn't want anything to do with him again. And I know that's fucked up, I was using my own father, but when I was finally thinking clearly again, I was still so angry about the things he said to you. And everything he did to mom. He calls sometimes, but I don't answer. I didn't even know he had a new kid," Will sighed, signaling Gabby for another beer.

"Why didn't you tell me this five years ago?"

"I was so ashamed, Jay. I'm still ashamed, and it took me five years to put this explanation together. I'm not expecting to be forgiven, but I need my little brother,"

Jay sighed, hearing Erin's voice in his head again. "Here's to second chances," he lifted his beer to Will's, clinking their bottles together.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

"Okay, now put this blanket on top of that chair and it will be all done!" Erin instructed Brielle as she put the finishing touches on the fort they'd made in Jay's living room.

"It's perfect!" Brielle beamed. "Can you make popcorn before we put on the movie?"

"Of course. What movie are we watching?" Erin asked as she made her way into the kitchen.

"Hmmmm…" Brielle sorted through the DVDs in Jay's cabinet. "These are all so dumb! Why do boys have so many car movies?" the little girl yelled down the hall.

Erin laughed as she put the popcorn in the microwave. "Cars and zombies, am I right?"

Brie groaned. "Yup. My brother's a dork,"

"You have been spending waaay too much time with me," Erin shook her head but smiled at how much the little girl sounded like her. "But yeah, he is kind of dorky, isn't he?"

Jay's sister made her way into the kitchen where Erin was. "There's nothing to watch!" she complained dramatically.

Erin grinned. "You see my purse on the kitchen chair?"

Brie nodded, confused.

"Go open it." Erin instructed and the little girl walked over to the chair, unzipping Erin's bag.

"RAPUNZEL!" She squealed, pulling out _Tangled_ from the purse.

"I knew Jay didn't have any good movies over here," Erin winked at Brie as she got the popcorn out of the microwave and emptied the bag into a bowl.

"You're the best!" Brie ran up to Erin and hugged her knees.

"Nah, you're the best, you goof," Erin reached down and ruffled Brie's curly hair, causing her to pull away, laughing.

"I'm gonna go put it on! Bring the popcorn!" she yelled, her little feet padding down the hallway back into the living room.

"Yes ma'am," Erin laughed, following her footsteps.

Brielle got the movie on with Erin's help and excitedly crawled into the fort, sprawling out on a pile of pillows. Erin turned the lights out and climbed in next to her, putting the bowl of popcorn between them.

They watched the movie in silence for a while before Brielle spoke up. "Erin?" she asked through a yawn.

"What's up, B?"

"Thank you for being my sister," the little girl said in the sweetest voice, and Erin swore her heart melted into a puddle right then and there. Brielle sat up on her elbows and moved the now-empty popcorn bowl to the corner of the fort and snuggled into Erin's chest. Erin felt her eyes fill with tears of contentment as she ran her fingers through Brielle's hair as the little girl dozed off.

Erin must have had fallen asleep too because she woke up a little while later to the credits of _Tangled_ rolling on Jay's TV and the sound of Jay's apartment door opening. She knew he was going to have a heart attack when he saw the messy condition of his apartment, but then she looked at Brielle curled into her chest and figured he'd forgive them. She just hoped everything had gone okay with Will; her boyfriend deserved a family. He deserved everything.

The door finally opened and Erin heard footsteps coming towards them. Jay peeled a sheet back and peeked inside the fort and thought his heart was going to burst when he saw Erin and Brielle. He didn't think his mood could get any better, but somehow it just had.

"Hey babe," Erin whispered.

Jay crawled inside the fort and lay down on the other side of Erin, placing a kiss on top of her head.

"How was your talk?" She adjusted Brielle, who didn't stir, and rolled over so she was facing her boyfriend.

"It was good," he told her, and Erin could tell he was telling the truth. The stress, anger, and worry were gone from his eyes, replaced with the brightness that Erin had missed so much.

"I'm so happy to hear that," she reached up to touch his cheek, running her finger over his stubble.

"Thank you for everything," Jay placed a hand on top of hers. "I know I've been the worst partner, and boyfriend, and brother, and person since I knew Will was back. And you just picked up my slack and dealt with it. I don't know what I did to deserve you, Er,"

"That's why you have backup," Erin smirked, lifting her head up a little to bring their faces together so she could press a quick kiss to his lips.

"I love you," he blurted out after their lips met. Erin froze, but Jay continued. "I love you for everything you have done for me. I love you for everything you have done for Brielle. I love you for your constant support, your smart mouth, your driving skills, your determination. I love you for believing in second chances. I love you so damn much, Erin,"

Erin felt her eyes filling with tears again. This was all so new to her; loving and being loved. She didn't know what to do or if she was doing any of it right. But she did know one thing: she was in love with Jay Halstead.

"I love you too," she whispered, and once again Jay's mood became even happier.

"I love you too," a half-asleep Brielle mumbled, causing Erin and Jay to burst into laughter. Erin met Jay's eyes and even in the dark room under a blanket fort, she could see them sparkling. She propped herself up on her elbows and leaned in to meet his lips in a kiss full of more passion than all of their other kisses combined, a kiss saying she loved him without her even needing to repeat the words. When they finally broke for air, she lay back down and snuggled into his chest as Brielle rolled over and snuggled into hers.

As Jay lay on his living room floor in a blanket fort, holding both his girls, for the first time in his life he thanked his father for making him happier than he'd ever been. Who would've ever guessed that the anger, heartbreak, and disappointment could have led him here to this?


	7. Chapter 7

_Hi babes! The next part of this story line may be slightly unrealistic due to (my lack of knowledge of) laws & such and I am speeding the process up A LOT, so please bear with me! That's all I can say without giving too much away, but I think/I hope you'll enjoy it, please don't hate me! Thank you for the continued reading and reviews, xo :)_

Erin awoke to a loud bang and immediately breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Brielle still sound asleep next to her. She slowly got out from under the covers to find the source of the noise and to make sure Jay was okay. She walked down the hall to the kitchen and the first thing she saw was Jay's phone on the ground, the screen newly shattered.

"Babe? What's wrong?" she asked gently, moving over to where her boyfriend was leaning up against the counter staring out the window, a hard look in his eyes.

"My dad already quit the job in Bolivia; said he was too good for it. He's moving back to California on Monday and called to arrange getting Brielle back," Jay choked out, turning his head towards the ceiling to prevent the tears from falling down his face. "I know it's only been like a week, Erin, but I can't let her go back to him. You saw how scared she was when she got here, who knows what she went through with him. She's the only real family I have, I can't let her go…"

"Jay…" Erin was at a loss for words as she moved closer to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, trying to process what he'd just told her. "Didn't you sign any paperwork when she first came here? There's gotta be something giving you rights to her,"

Jay shook his head. "No, I mean my dad said he was going to have papers drawn up, but I guess they weren't ready yet. He still has full custody of her, and he wants her back this weekend. She can't go back there, Erin."

Erin's heart was breaking in her chest, between the thought of losing Brielle, the pain in her boyfriend's eyes, and the way his voice was breaking, but she honestly did not know what to do. As a cop, she'd witnessed enough custody battles to know that Jay had absolutely no case; it would be the girl's father, a rich doctor, versus her brother who didn't know she existed until less than two weeks prior. Her next question broke her heart even more before it even left her mouth. "Is there anything you can even do about it?" she asked as gently as possible, but it didn't decrease the harshness of her words.

"I don't know, but I'm damn sure going to try!" Jay exploded, pulling himself out of her embrace and turning to face her. "I spent eighteen years living with him. He hated me. He was abusive in every sense of the word – he mocked me, he made fun of me, he hit me, he abandoned me, Erin! And I'm not going to let him to the same to her!"

Erin gasped at his admission. She knew Jay's dad was never father of the year, but she had no idea he was abusive. "He hit you?" she asked in a quiet voice; throughout her entire childhood, no matter how bad her mom's current boyfriend was, no one had ever laid a hand on her. The thought of Jay's own father hurting him, _hurting Brielle,_ churned her stomach.

"Yes." Jay took a deep breath to calm himself down. "And I know you thought Brie was just nervous about being in a new place, but she was terrified of me for more reasons than that. She thought I was going to hurt her, just like her own father did." His heart hurt to even say those words.

Erin couldn't fight her tears anymore as they began to roll down her face. She looked at the man in front of her, the one who she loved more than anything in the entire world, and her heart broke all over again when she pictured his father abusing him. She closed the gap between them and threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his chest, squeezing him tight. She felt his arms tighten around her waist and he laid his chin on top of her head, letting out a deep sigh. "I'm so sorry. I love you so much. We're going to get through this," she promised, mumbling the words into his chest.

"How?" Jay asked, his voice breaking again as he felt Erin's tears soak through his shirt.

Erin suddenly saw the custody case in a whole new light; the abuse aspect suddenly giving Jay a chance. She pulled away from his chest to look him in the eyes, moving her hands to his shoulders. "Don't tell Brie anything is wrong yet. Pull yourself together, get her ready for school. I'm going to head to the district early to talk to Hank, I know a few lawyers who owe him favors. Get Brie to school and meet me there, okay?" she squeezed his shoulders reassuringly.

Jay looked at the woman standing in front of him, all 5'3" of her, and almost laughed at how ironic it was that she was his rock. Once again, for about the tenth time this week, his world was crumbling around him and there she stood, making him believe everything would be okay. He tightened his grip around her waist and pulled her back into him, placing a soft but firm kiss on her lips. "I love you," he mumbled into her mouth.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

"Woah, Lindsay, where's the fire?" Platt asked as Erin sprinted into the district, ignoring the greetings of all the officers in the lobby. Erin rolled her eyes at the desk sergeant's humor as she slammed her hand onto the palm scanner, hurriedly entered her code and yanked open the gate, sprinting up the second set of stairs into the bullpen. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw no one except Hank had arrived yet and she continued her sprint into his office.

"Hey, kid," Hank looked up from his paperwork and immediately knew something was wrong upon seeing his pseudo-daughter's face. "What's up?"

"Did you know Jay was abused as a kid?" she asked, sitting down across from Voight and trying to catch her breath.

"What? No?" Hank creased his brow, confused and unsure of where this was going.

"Well he was, and he thinks his dad was abusing Brielle too," Erin could feel her eyes filling with tears all over again at the thought. She saw a fire light in Hank's eyes as well, knowing there was nothing he hated more than men who abused children.

"Well it's a good thing she's with Jay now, right?" Voight was still unsure of why he and Erin were having this conversation.

"No!" she slammed her fists down on Hank's desk, startling him. "Well, yes, but his dad is moving back to the states and wants Jay to send Brielle back home this weekend,"

Hank went silent, suddenly understanding Erin's mood. "And Jay wants to fight his dad for custody?" he assumed.

Erin nodded. "I know you have a few lawyers…"

"I got it," Hank cut her off. While he wanted to hate Halstead for going against his rules and taking his girl from him, he knew that Jay was as good as it got for Erin. He was it for her, and Brielle was perfect for both of them. He didn't want to think about what would happen to them, especially Erin, if Brielle was taken away and sent back with her abusive father. "I'll make some calls. What I need you to do is start making a case. We'll need evidence, Erin, and I know that's going to be hard, but you need to talk to Brielle about her father, okay?"

"Okay," Erin said weakly, already imagining the conversation.

Hank reached across his desk and grabbed her hand, giving it a supportive squeeze. "I'm proud of you, kid,"

"Thank you," she squeezed his hand back, the pit in her stomach easing just a bit knowing they had Hank Voight on their side.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Erin picked Brielle up from school that day while Jay stayed at the district to meet with the custody lawyer Hank had found. Jay had asked her to be the one to talk to Brielle because of how comfortable is sister was around Erin and how easily she tended to open up to her.

"Erin!" the little girl exclaimed, running over to the detective and capturing her in a hug.

"Hey B," Erin smiled and tried her best to act like everything was normal. "How was school today?"

Brielle got into Erin's car and began to babble on about Michelle and Joey and Alex and the friendship bracelets she made, but Erin couldn't comprehend any of it. All she could focus on was how she was possibly going to ask this little girl if her father hit her. They finally pulled up to Jay's apartment and made their way inside. Brielle was about to run into her room to grab her Barbies, but Erin stopped her. "Hey, B? Can we talk for a second?"

"Of course!" the little girl ran back down the hallway towards Erin, her brown curls bouncing behind her.

Erin took a deep breath as she sat on the couch and Jay's sister climbed up on her lap. "So your dad decided not to take the job at the hospital in Bolivia. He's moving back to California this weekend…" she started.

Brielle's eyes widened and immediately filled with tears and Erin cursed herself for having to do this. "I don't have to go back, right?" she asked in a small voice.

"I don't know yet," Erin answered honestly. Her heart physically hurt inside her chest as she watched tears overtake Brielle's crystal blue eyes. "Your brother and I are trying to keep you here in Chicago, but we'll have to go see a judge for him to decide. But so the judge makes the right decision, I have to ask you a few questions and I need you to tell me the truth, okay?"

Brielle nodded and Erin could tell the little girl knew what questions she was about to be asked. She placed a kiss to Brielle's forehead before beginning. "Did your dad ever hit you, or purposely hurt you, in any way?"

Tears began to spill out of Brielle's eyes and before she even answered the question, Erin felt tears falling down her cheeks as well. "Sometimes," Brie whispered. "When he was in a bad mood. It happened more when mommy left," she turned to bury her head in Erin's chest, sobs beginning to rack her body at the memories.

Erin wrapped one arm around the little girl and used her free hand to wipe the tears from her own face, which was useless because they wouldn't stop falling. "It's okay, sweet girl," she whispered into Brielle's curls. "We're gonna make it okay," Erin prayed to God she could keep that promise.

Brielle ended up crying herself to sleep in Erin's lap by the time Jay got home from the district. As soon as he walked in the door and saw Erin sitting on his couch with tear-stained cheeks, he knew his assumptions about his father were true.

"Please tell me you have good news," Erin whispered in a broken voice.

Jay took a seat on the couch next to her and pulled her into him, placing a kiss into her hair. "Voight got a great lawyer and he thinks we have a case. Now that I know he definitely hurt Brie, we have an even better one. But we have to go to California to fight. It's her home state, so they have jurisdiction."

"When?"

"The lawyer filed the paperwork this afternoon and normally it takes a few months, but Voight's guy pulled some strings and of course my dad got the best lawyer in the state of California, so they're both pushing the case forward, so it should be sooner than later. The lawyer is supposed to call me tonight."

"No matter what happens, she's lucky to have you, Jay." Erin snuggled further into his chest, keeping both arms wrapped around Brielle, who was still asleep in his lap.

"We're going to win, Erin. We have to win. I can't send her back to him. I can't lose her." He choked out, the reality of the day's events finally setting in.

"You're not going to lose her. A blind man could see that you're the best thing to ever happen to this little girl. You gave her a family, Jay." She removed a hand from Brielle's back and intertwined her fingers with Jay's hand that was around her shoulder.

Jay squeezed her hand. "No, Er, you gave her a family. Neither of us would have survived this past week without you. Neither of us will survive this trial without you."

"I'm not going anywhere," she promised. "You two are stuck with me."

"Speaking of family," Jay paused to take a deep breath. "I called Will. He's actually going to testify for us if we need him since he, uh, saw what my dad did…"

Erin's heart ached at the mention of Jay's abuse again. She lifted her head from his chest and turned to look him in the eyes. "I am so proud of you. For everything." She pulled his hand down to her lips and kissed his knuckles.

"I love you, Er." Jay had never told anyone about his father being abusive before, figuring it would send them running for the hills. Throw a four year old child and a custody case into the mix, and anyone in their right mind would be long gone. But then there was Erin, confessing her love for him and kissing him and promising to never leave his side, and Jay was just wondering how he'd gotten so lucky, what he'd done to deserve this.

"I love you too. We're gonna be okay, ya know. All three of us," she laid her head back down on his chest, still not letting go of his hand but making sure she still had a secure hold on Brielle.


	8. Chapter 8

_Eight weeks later…_

Jay, Erin, Brielle, and Will sat in the courtroom in Los Angeles, California waiting for the judge to give his decision. The trial had gone as well as any of them could have hoped. Jay and Will's accounts of living with their father had brought some of the jury members, and Erin, to tears, and Brielle nearly begging the judge to let her go home with her brother was bone-chilling. Erin also got the feeling that the judge believed that Jay's father's work schedule; the 70+ hour weeks plus constantly being on-call was also an issue now that he had gotten rid of Brielle's nanny and did not want to spend the money to hire a new one. But she'd sat through one too many custody cases to know that you should never, ever get your hopes up.

She was taken back to the present by Jay's arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to him on the bench. "You okay?" she looked up at him, knowing the toll this trial had taken on him.

"I will be in a few minutes. Hopefully." His eyes nervously flickered over to the stand, where the judge had just reentered and taken a seat.

"Court is back in session," the judge slammed the gavel down and suddenly everything began to move in slow motion. Jay reached down for Erin's hand and squeezed it so tight she thought her fingers might be breaking, but she didn't care. Erin held her breath. Will squeezed his eyes shut. Brielle stared wide-eyed at the judge, her hands shaking.

The judge was speaking, but Erin had no idea what he was saying. She couldn't focus on anything for more than two seconds. Her eyes kept darting between the judge, her and Jay's hands, and Brielle. She was so out of it that she didn't even hear the judge's verdict. It wasn't until she looked up from her hands to see Brielle beaming and happy tears running down Jay's face that she realized they'd done it. They'd won. Brielle was coming back to Chicago with them for good. She watched with tears streaming down her own face as Brielle threw her arms around Jay's neck, squeezing him tight. When Brielle finally let go and moved over to hug Will, Jay threw his arms around Erin.

"We did it," he whispered in her ear, and she could hear him smiling.

"You did it, babe. I was just here for support. I'm so proud of you," she rubbed her hand up and down his back.

"Erin!" Brielle had broken free from Will's embrace and wrapped herself around Erin's knees. Erin pulled away from Jay and lifted her off the ground, placing a kiss on her forehead.

"You did it, sweet girl." Erin smiled as the little girl buried her face in her neck.

"Can we go home now?" she mumbled into Erin's neck, exhausted from the events of the week, especially today. Now that she knew she could go back to Chicago with her brother, all she wanted was her bed in his apartment.

"Yeah, B, we can," Erin smiled at the thought and walked back over to Jay, who was signing papers and talking to his lawyer and Will.

"Hey," she walked up behind him and rested her chin on his shoulder. "Your sister wants to go home," she smiled at the way that sounded. Home. Chicago.

"Well then let's go," Jay said, as if it was the simplest thing in the world. He turned back around to sign a final paper and shake his lawyer's hand, then turned back to his girls. Erin carried Brielle with one hand, her other hand holding Jay's as they walked out of the courthouse.

They sat in LAX waiting to board their plane, Brielle sitting on Jay's lap and Erin sitting next to them, resting her head on Jay's shoulder as she texted Hank to tell him the news.

"Excuse me," an older woman walking past stopped in front of them. "You have a beautiful family,"

"Yeah, I do," Jay beamed, looking at the girl on his lap and the woman beside him. "Thank you."

"Flight 350 to Chicago is now boarding." A voice announced over the loudspeaker and Jay stood up, then reached for Erin's hand. Will followed behind them, as he'd done all day, not wanting to get in the way. He'd never seen his brother this infatuated by a girl as he was Erin, and Will was happy for Jay. After everything he'd gone through, after everything Will had put him through, he deserved it. Even though he'd only known the detective for two months or so, he could tell Erin was good for him.

As they sat on the plane en route back to Chicago, Jay looked across his row. Erin was asleep, leaning on the window, and Brielle was asleep in the middle with her head on Erin's lap and her feet across Jay's. He couldn't help but smile thinking back to the woman they'd seen in the airport earlier; how she'd called them a beautiful family. He thought back on the last three months of his life, what a whirlwind they had been. Three months ago, he and Erin were probably in the 300 bantering about something stupid. She had no idea he was hopelessly in love with her and that he had been for the past two years. Two months ago she had volunteered to help him raise a child and he kissed her and almost blew it. But then suddenly everything had fallen into place and for the past nine weeks, he'd woken up next to her everyday with a smile on his face. There was no doubt in his mind that she was it for him, that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Erin Lindsay. He wanted to raise Brielle with her, then raise children of their own who had her breathtaking hazel eyes and adorable dimples.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

"What do you say we stop at the district on the way home, break the news to everyone?" Jay suggested as they stood at the curb of O'Hare, hailing a cab.

"Yes!" Brielle exclaimed. She loved visiting District 21 and seeing the team, especially when she teamed up with Antonio and Jay to make fun of Ruzek.

Erin laughed at her enthusiasm. "I guess that's the plan then!" She got into the cab and gave the address to the driver.

"Erin, Brielle!" Platt greeted them as they walked into the lobby.

"Platt," Jay rolled his eyes at the desk sergeant's obsession with his girls.

"Oh, hey, Halstead. Didn't see ya there," Platt matched his eye roll as she turned back to her paperwork.

Erin buzzed them up and Brielle hid behind her legs, wanting to surprise the team when they got upstairs. Hank clearly hadn't shared the good news with the team, because when the detectives only saw Halstead and Lindsay at the top of the stairs, their faces all dropped, expecting the worse.

"Boo!" Brielle popped out from behind Erin's legs and ran into the bullpen, jumping onto Jay's empty chair. The team's frowns quickly turned to smiles and they all got up to congratulate Jay.

"Mini Halstead!" Ruzek wheeled across the room to give her a high-five.

"Did you finish your paperwork while I was gone?" Brielle asked him, causing the room to break out in laughter.

"Glad to see court didn't change you. Stop spending so much time with Erin," Ruzek muttered, wheeling back to his desk.

"Erin, I think Hank wants to see you in his office," Antonio called out. Erin crinkled her brow in confusion but nodded as she made her way across the bullpen.

She knocked on Voight's office door then let herself in. "You wanted to see me?"

"Hey, kid," Hank stood up to give her a hug. "Congratulations. I'm proud of you and Halstead."

"Thank you," Erin smiled as she hugged him back. She noticed him staring out into the bullpen over her shoulder and pulled away. "That's what you called me in here for? What's going on?" she asked, realizing something was up.

"Nothing," Hank said quickly, too quickly. Erin whipped her head around to look out in the bullpen and gasped.

In the middle of the room, her boyfriend sat on one knee. Brielle stood next to him, holding a small black box in her hands. Erin stood frozen in Hank's doorway, one hand over her mouth in shock.

"Erin," Jay began. "I know we haven't been together for that long, but I don't need time to realize that you're it for me. After the events of the past two months, everything that we've gone through together, I couldn't imagine waiting any longer to do this or doing it on a more perfect day. I've never been able to open up about my past with anyone before and you made it so easy. And I've always figured that if I did tell someone about my past, they'd run away, but not you. You've stayed with me through it all, even before we started dating. You're my constant, my calm, my rock. I couldn't imagine my life without you and I don't ever want to find out what it would be like. I want to wake up next to you every morning, and cook breakfast for you and Brielle, and I want to be a real family. When I heard the lady in the airport tell us we were a beautiful family, I realized how damn lucky I am and I knew I had to make it official. I want to raise Brielle together and then raise our own kids together. So, can we? Erin, will you marry me?"

Erin finally regained control over her body and nearly ran across the bullpen to Jay. "Yes," she choked out through tears. "Of course,"

"Yay!" Brielle exclaimed, opening the black box in her hands to reveal a beautiful diamond ring. She handed the box to her brother, who slipped the ring on to Erin's finger and stood up.

"Oh my god," she gasped, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face in his chest. "I love you so much, Jay," she leaned back to capture his lips in a perfect kiss, not caring that his little sister, her father, and their entire team was staring at them. She finally pulled away when she ran out of breath and was met with hugs and congratulations from each member of her team.

"You all knew?" she realized, zeroing in on Hank. "How?" she wiped a new batch of tears off her cheeks.

"Don't worry about it, kid." Hank enveloped her in a hug and kissed the top of her head. "I'll take the kid tonight, you and Halstead go to Molly's and celebrate." 

"No way, it's her first night back home," Erin argued, pulling away and lifting Brie off the ground.

"Erin, you only get engaged once. You have the rest of your lives to spend your nights on the couch together."

"The rest of our lives," Erin repeating, her eyes filling with tears all over again as Jay walked over to them and put his arms around both Erin and Brielle. A thought that had always scared her suddenly didn't seem so terrifying; she was going to spend the rest of her life with Jay Halstead.

"We're a real family now," Brielle announced, running her hands over the diamonds on Erin's ring.

"Yeah, we are," Erin and Jay said at the same time.

Brielle beamed. "Thank you for making my brother happy, Erin. And for marrying us. We need you."

"I need you both so much more, baby girl," Erin placed a kiss on Brielle's cheek then on Jay's, before taking his hand to lead him out of the district. It was finally time to take her family home.

 _Soooo this is it! I hope you guys enjoyed the story, I might write an epilogue or something so leave a review if you want one! Thank you so much for all the reviews, favorites and follows, they all mean the world to me! xo :)_


	9. Chapter 9: Epilogue

_As per your requests, here's an epilogue for you beautiful people! Enjoy! Now that this story is wrapped up, keep an eye out for more updates on I Owed You One & All In. I might throw in a one-shot with these characters every now & then if I start to miss them! Thank you for reading and for always being so kind, xo :)_

FIVE YEARS LATER….

"Baaaabe," Jay knocked on the door to the master bedroom where Erin had been 'getting changed' for the past hour. "We need to go!"

"Nothing fits me! This is all your fault, you can never keep it in your pants!" Erin screamed back, whipping open the door to reveal herself in only a bathrobe, her seven month pregnant stomach sticking out.

"Erin," Jay sighed, walking into the room and placing a kiss into his wife's hair. "You and Brielle went shopping last week, there's gotta be something in here you want to wear." He continued through the room and entered their walk-in closet, wincing at the mess of clothes thrown all over the floor. "What about this? Green's my favorite color on you," He handed her a flowy, dark green maxi dress that made her eyes look amazing.

"Fine," Erin rolled her eyes, taking the dress from her husband and throwing it down on the bed. "Can you feed Jenna and Henry before we go?"

"Already done. Henry's napping and Brielle is doing Jenna's hair,"

Erin groaned, the guilt from her hormone-induced bitch fit setting in as her husband once again proved how perfect he was. "I'm sorry. Thank you," she sighed, walking over to Jay and burying her head in his chest as he wrapped his arms around her.

"You have nothing to apologize for, Er. I'm gonna go get the babies into their car seats, meet us downstairs once you get changed, okay?" Jay placed another kiss into her hair.

Erin nodded against his chest before pulling away to finish getting ready. "I love you," she told him, and she had never meant three words more in her life.

"I love you more." Jay promised, before heading back downstairs to check on the rest of his family.

Erin and Jay had gotten married four years ago after being engaged for one year. It was a small ceremony with their Intelligence family plus Will and his girlfriend, Natalie. Kim was Erin's maid of honor, Will was Jay's best man, and Brielle was the flower girl. On their second anniversary, Erin had found out she was pregnant with twins and nine months later, Jenna Camille and Henry William were born. Brielle was the biggest help; being an aunt was her favorite thing in the world, and Erin and Jay were in love with their little family. They didn't think it could possibly get any better, until seven months ago when Erin had been sent to the ER after passing out during a bust and Will ran some tests and informed her that she was pregnant again.

 _"Erin, where's Jay?" Will came in the room with her file in his hands and a concerned look on his face._

 _"Picking the babies up from day care, Hank dropped me off because I know you're just going to tell me to take my migraine medication," Erin looked up from her phone to see the concern in Will's eyes. "Why? What's wrong?"_

 _"It wasn't a migraine, Erin. Lay down." Will instructed, putting her file down on the counter._

 _"Will! Tell me what's going on!" Erin demanded, her heart beginning to pound._

 _"Calm down, sis." Will began to laugh as he pulled a monitor towards her bed._

 _"Why are you laughing? Will, this isn't funny! What's wrong with me?"_

 _"There's nothing wrong with you. Erin, you're pregnant." Will smiled as his sister-in-law's jaw dropped and tears began to fill her eyes. "Congratulations."_

 _"What? Oh my god." Erin's hand reflexively flew to her stomach as Will's girlfriend and fellow ER doctor Natalie entered the room to begin her ultrasound._

 _"Congratulations, mommy." The brunette doctor knelt down to give Erin a hug. "I called Jay, he's on his way."_

 _"Thank you," Erin wiped the tears from her eyes as the sound of her baby's heartbeat began to fill the room._

 _"Erin-" Jay burst through the doors of her hospital room, followed by nine-year-old Brielle pushing a double stroller containing Jenna and Henry. He was about to ask what was wrong but he was interrupted by the sound of his baby's beating heart. "Oh my god."_

 _"Hey, daddy," Erin smiled, a whole new batch of tears spilling from her eyes as Jay ran over to her bed and captured her lips in a kiss that was a perfect combination of love, gratitude, and salt water tears._

Erin smiled at the memory as she pulled the green dress down over her swollen stomach. She ran her fingers through her dirty blonde waves and applied quick coats of mascara and lip gloss before heading downstairs to see her babies.

"Erin! You look so pretty!" Brielle exclaimed, running over to her and reaching out to rub her pregnant stomach. "How's my niece?"

"It's a boy, B," Jay said matter-of-factly as he re-entered the house from putting the twins in the car.

"No it's not!" both Brielle and Erin fired back before laughing and high-fiving each other, a tradition that never got old after they sassed Jay.

"Come on, Henry and I are outnumbered," Jay whined.

"You love it. You love us." Erin smiled as she took Brielle's hand and led her to the front door where Jay was waiting for them.

"I do. You look beautiful, by the way." Jay leaned in to give Erin a quick kiss when she got to him, then leaned down and placed a kiss on her dress over the swell of her stomach. "And I love you little one, no matter what."

Erin's heart fluttered as he talked to their unborn child, just like it did everyday during the past seven months and everyday during the nine months she was pregnant with the twins. Over five years into their relationship, she was still unsure of how she'd gotten so lucky.

Jay opened the passenger side door for Erin – after her last 2am craving for McDonald's fries, she promised him he could drive for at least a week if he got out of bed to get her fast food – and she got in the car, then turned to the back seat.

"Hi my babies!" she smiled at her twins.

"Mama!" Two-year-old Jenna clapped her hands, her blue eyes lighting up and her dimples deepening at the sight of her mom.

"Where going, mama?" Henry asked, his hazel eyes also widening in delight when he heard Erin's voice.

"We're going to cousin Owen's first birthday party," Erin explained, reaching back to tickle Jenna's feet.

"Cake?" the little girl asked between fits of laughter.

"Lots of cake." Erin promised, moving onto Henry's feet.

The little boy exploded with laughter as he tried to smack Erin's hands away. "Stop mama!"

"What's the magic word?" Erin asked between fits of her own laughter.

"Please mama!"

Erin pulled her hand away and blew a kiss to her son. "How'd you get so smart?"

"From daddy!" Henry exclaimed, causing Erin's jaw to drop as she tickled him one last time for that response. She wasn't at all surprised though, Henry was the textbook definition of 'daddy's little man'.

She could see Jay beaming in her peripheral vision. "I think the two of you are doing just fine being outnumbered," she turned so she was facing forward and placed her hands on her baby bump. "Isn't that right, little lady?" Her smile deepened when she felt a kick against her stomach.

When they pulled up to Will and Natalie's house, Brielle stood between the twins and took both of their hands to lead them in the backyard as Erin and Jay followed behind, holding hands as well.

"How'd we get so lucky?" Erin asked, watching Brielle's curls bounce behind her as she skipped along the driveway with her niece and nephew.

"I ask myself that everyday," Jay squeezed Erin's hand. "Actually, I ask myself how _I_ got so lucky. How I ended up with you. Because you saved me, Erin. And you saved Brielle. Then you gave me the two greatest gifts I've ever gotten in my life, and you're giving me another one."

Erin looked up at her husband, her eyes watering. "Damn pregnancy hormones," she muttered, but she was pretty sure she'd be crying happy tears at that moment even if she wasn't pregnant because she was so damn in love with the man standing next to her.

"I love you. I love you and your pregnancy hormones and your baby bump and your heart and your dimples and your eyes, which look amazing in that color by the way." Jay smiled down at her as her tears broke free from her eyes and slid down her cheeks.

"And I love you even though you just ruined my makeup." Erin pushed herself up on her toes to press a quick kiss to her husband's lips before they entered the backyard to spend the rest of the day with their perfect family.


End file.
